Recent bad rap aside, the millionaires tax is making an impact
After reading Carine Hajjar's May 23 opinion piece,
Get The Gavel
A weekly SCOTUS explainer newsletter by columnist Kimberly Atkins Stohr.
Enter Email
Sign Up
Just as learning never really ends, public policy can always grow and improve. While Hajjar identifies areas where such policy can be refined, it would be a disservice to overlook the amazing opportunities created by these dollars. Thank you, Massachusetts, for investing in residents like me. My classmates and I promise to make that investment worthwhile.
Advertisement
Mike McDougal
Haverhill
Fair Share funds have been a boon to public higher ed
In response to Carine Hajjar's opinion piece regarding the Fair Share Amendment, it's important to also highlight the transformative impact this funding is having on public higher education in Massachusetts.
The House's fiscal 2025 supplemental budget includes a $20 million investment in higher education, with $10 million allocated to the University of Massachusetts for its endowment matching program. This initiative provides a $1 state match for every $2 in private contributions to the school and has already created or supported 700 scholarship funds worth $135 million, which distribute $4.6 million in student aid annually.
Advertisement
The Senate's proposal of $125 million in capital support would provide much-needed state funding for deferred maintenance, and it aligns with Governor Maura Healey's visionary BRIGHT Act, which would modernize and improve sustainability on public campuses.
A notable Senate earmark is the $10 million designated for a nursing simulation lab at UMass Amherst. This facility would double the enrollment capacity for the Amherst campus's nursing program, helping to address the statewide health care workforce shortage.
The UMass system educates 73,000 students annually and is celebrating 19,000 new graduates entering the workforce, predominantly in Massachusetts. These strategic investments fulfill the promises made when voters approved the Fair Share Amendment and ensure a robust future for public higher education and the Commonwealth's economy.
Christopher Dunn
Associate vice chancellor for government relations
UMass Amherst
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
By thin margin, Assembly passes bill to provide $1.4b in tax credits for Summerlin movie studio
Among the 27 Democrats in the chamber, 15 voted in support and 12 voted against. Among Republicans, seven supported and eight opposed. The Nevada Assembly on Friday night approved what will likely be the state's largest ever public subsidy: $1.4 billion in transferable tax credits over 15 years to support a movie studio in Las Vegas. Assembly Bill 238 passed the Assembly by a razor-thin margin: 22 in support, 20 opposed. The bill now advances to the Senate for consideration in the waning days of the legislative session. The bill would massively expand Nevada's film tax credit program to support the build out and operation of a 31-acre film studio currently referred to as the Summerlin Production Studios Project (after the Las Vegas neighborhood where it would be located). Hollywood giants Sony Pictures Entertainment and Warner Bros. Discovery are attached to the project. Howard Hughes Holdings is developing. How transferable tax credits cost the state money: A $50 million example Transferable tax credits sell for less than face value — a discount of about 10% isn't unusual. Let's say the state issues Sony $50 million of tax credits. MGM Resorts International buys them from Sony for $45 million. Then, instead of paying the state $50 million in gaming taxes that it owes, MGM gives the state the tax credits it bought from Sony. MGM gets a $5 million tax break. Sony gets $45 million. And the state, which otherwise would have received $50 million in tax revenue from MGM, gets nothing. — Hugh Jackson Nevada's film tax credit program is currently capped at $10 million per year. AB 238 would raise that cap to $120 million per year, for 15 years, beginning in 2028. The majority of those tax credits, $95 million per year, would be reserved for productions at the Summerlin studio; $25 million per year would be for productions not attached to the studio. Altogether, that's equivalent to $1.8 billion in public subsidies for the television and film industry. If approved by the Senate and signed into law by Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo, the legislation will be the largest public subsidy approved by the State of Nevada, surpassing the $1.25 billion approved by lawmakers in 2014 for Tesla Motors. Democratic Assemblymembers Sandra Jauregui and Danielle Monroe Moreno, who sponsored the bill, have pushed back on the characterization of their proposal as a public subsidy for massive corporations, instead framing it as an investment in a new industry that will bring thousands of new jobs and new revenue to the state. While tax credits aren't issued to companies until they prove they've met the qualifications for them, the state must treat them as 'negative revenue' when forecasting expected state revenue. That means they do impact the state budgeting process. Opponents have argued that the return on investment is low. An independent analysis commissioned by the Governor's Office of Economic Development, which houses the Nevada Film Office, determined that AB238 would stimulate the state economy but not enough to offset the massive expansion of the film tax credit program. An analysis commissioned by the backers of AB 238 offered a rosier projection, but even that acknowledged that most of the projected economic activity is indirect or induced. An amendment adopted by the Assembly will create a special tax zone around the Summerlin film studio that captures some of the local taxes generated and diverts it to the Clark County School District to fund pre-k programs in East Last Vegas. Additional guardrails were also amended into the bill. Support in the Assembly did not fall across party lines. Among the 27 Democrats in the chamber, 15 voted in support and 12 voted against. Among Republicans, seven supported and eight opposed. The Summerlin studio bill received less support in the Assembly than the bill two years ago that approved $380 million in public assistance for a proposed baseball stadium for the Oakland A's on the Las Vegas Strip. That bill passed the Assembly 25-15. (Two lawmakers were excused from that vote.) The razor-thin film tax credit bill vote was not the only dramatic moment in the Assembly Friday. Earlier in the floor session, Assembly Bill 500 fell short of the required two-thirds approval it needed to pass the chamber. The bill would have allowed for payment banks, a new type of financial institution that focuses solely on payment processing rather than lending. Assembly Speaker Steve Yeager, who sponsored that bill, believes the bill will create competition in the financial services industry and lower costs for businesses by cutting out financial middlemen. The Assembly vote was 25-17, a simple majority but three short of the two-thirds it needed because it would raise state revenue. Six Democrats and 11 Republicans opposed the bill. Four Republicans and 11 Democrats supported the bill. Immediately after the bill failed, a motion was made to reconsider the vote and move the bill to the chief clerk's desk. Yeager said afterward he wasn't surprised by the outcome, adding that he wasn't sure he had the votes it needed but decided 'to put it out there and see.' He dismissed the notion that some Democrats may have withdrawn support after learning that the Nevada Firearms Coalition PAC was privately urging Republicans to support the bill, something Yeager and others in his caucus apparently did not know until it was reported by The Nevada Independent days earlier. Yeager chalked up the vote to lawmakers being hesitant about complex financial banking legislation. He added that he plans on having 'a few more conversations' about the bill on Saturday to see if another vote is possible. Because of procedural rules, AB500 needs to pass the full Assembly on Saturday in order to have a chance at making it to the governor's desk. The 2025 Legislative Session adjourns Monday.
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Republicans want to add work requirements to Medicaid. Even some recipients with jobs are concerned
Without Medicaid, Joanna Parker would have a much tougher time holding down a job. The Garner, North Carolina, resident works for a local home goods store up to 20 hours a week, typically. But she also suffers from degenerative disc disease in her spine and relies on Medicaid to cover her doctor's visits, physical therapy and medication that helps her manage the pain so she can get out of bed in the morning. 'If I lose my insurance, I lose my ability to work,' said Parker, 40, who was uninsured for about a decade until North Carolina expanded Medicaid to low-income adults in December 2023. That's why Parker is so worried about the sweeping Republican tax and spending cuts package that's now making its way through Congress. The bill that narrowly passed the House last week would impose the first-ever work requirement on Medicaid enrollees like her. The Senate will put its stamp on the measure, which aims to fulfill President Donald Trump's agenda, in coming weeks. Though she's employed, Parker fears she could be stripped of her health insurance if she's not able to work enough hours every month or gets tripped up in reporting her time on the job to the state – should the work mandate become law. 'I feel it will be so easy to lose your coverage if you do the reporting the wrong way and you can't fix it,' said Parker, who has applied for full-time jobs over the past 18 months but said she hasn't received responses. The House GOP's 'big, beautiful bill' would mandate that many Medicaid expansion enrollees ages 19 to 64 work, volunteer, go to school or participate in a job training program at least 80 hours a month to obtain or maintain coverage. The requirement, which would go into effect by the end of 2026, would not apply to parents, pregnant women, medically frail individuals and those with substance-abuse disorders, among others. The provision would help achieve Republicans' longstanding goal of introducing work requirements into Medicaid. It's part of an unprecedented set of cuts the House GOP would make to the nation's safety net program. Proponents say the mandate would prompt enrollees who could – and should, in supporters' view – work to get jobs and, eventually, move off of Medicaid. Also, they argue, it would preserve the program for the most vulnerable Americans and reduce spending on the low-income adults who gained coverage through the Affordable Care Act's expansion provision, a frequent target of congressional Republicans. 'If you are an able-bodied adult and there's no expectation of you to work or train or volunteer in any way, there's going to be a large number who don't,' said Jonathan Ingram, vice president of policy and research at the Foundation for Government Accountability, which promotes work requirements in government assistance programs. But many Medicaid enrollees and their advocates fear millions of people would lose their coverage under the proposed measure, including many who already work or qualify for an exemption but would get stuck in red tape. An estimated 4.8 million Medicaid recipients would be left uninsured over 10 years because of the work mandate, according to a preliminary Congressional Budget Office analysis, though that figure could grow due to last-minute changes to the House bill that accelerated the start date of the requirement. (The Senate, which will now consider the bill, is expected to also make changes to the legislation – though any adjustments to its Medicaid provisions remain to be seen.) Many adults with Medicaid coverage have jobs, though the estimates vary. Some 38% of adult enrollees had full-time jobs in 2023, most of them for the full year, according to KFF, a nonpartisan health policy research group that looked at folks ages 19 to 64 without dependent children who did not receive disability benefits or have Medicare coverage, which insures people with disabilities. Just over 20% worked part time, up to 35 hours a week. Another 31% reported that they did not work because they were caregivers or in school or had an illness or disability, all of which might qualify them for exemptions from the work requirements under the House bill. Only 12% of the enrollees said they were not working because they couldn't find jobs, had retired or reported another reason, according to the KFF analysis, which is based on US Census Bureau data. 'Most people are doing the things that they're expected to do in terms of qualifying activities or things that could qualify them for an exemption,' said Michael Karpman, principal research associate at the Urban Institute. 'But people have a lot of difficulty navigating the process for reporting their exemptions, or if they're not exempt, reporting their work activities.' He pointed to Arkansas, the first state to temporarily implement work requirements during Trump's first term before the effort was halted in federal court. More than 18,000 Medicaid enrollees lost their coverage over several months – even though the state automatically exempted about two-thirds of those subject to the mandate. Many beneficiaries in Arkansas did not understand the work requirements or did not realize it applied to them, a 2019 Urban Institute report found. Participants tend to move frequently so their contact information may have been outdated. Others had difficulty using the online reporting portal, especially if they did not have access to computers and internet service. 'That population has all kinds of challenges with interacting with a system like that,' said Bill Kopsky, executive director of the Arkansas Public Policy Panel, a social and economic justice advocacy group. He noted that many enrollees didn't receive mailed notifications from the state or didn't realize they had to take action. What's more, the mandate was not associated with an increase in employment, though the uninsured rate did rise among low-income residents in the affected age group, said Karpman, who analyzed Census data in a recent report. That finding is in line with a previous study from Harvard University researchers, which was based on telephone surveys. Ingram, however, challenges the assertion that the effort did not spur Medicaid recipients to find work. He noted in a recent report that more than 9,000 enrollees found jobs during the time the work requirement was implemented. Some 99% of them were in the age group subject to the mandate, according to a prior foundation report that cited state data. Katrina Falkner knows what it's like to be stuck in a Medicaid paperwork morass. The Chicago resident, who cares for her elderly father and other family members with disabilities, said she was disenrolled from the program in 2023 after the state Department of Human Services lost the paperwork that she had spent days organizing. The agency told her that it reinstated her, she said. But when she went to the hospital, she found out she was still uninsured. It took several visits to multiple agency offices before the issue was resolved the following year. The department told CNN that such scenarios are 'extremely rare' and it works to 'ensure timely review and enrollment' for all applicants eligible for Medicaid. Falkner, 43, volunteers with several community organizing groups at least 20 hours a week and works every other Saturday as a Head Start ambassador for the Chicago Early Learning program. She also suffers from asthma, anemia, vertigo and other conditions, which can make it hard for her to work or volunteer at times. Being able to meet the reporting requirements concerns her, especially since her electricity and internet access are sometimes cut off. 'If I lost my Medicaid, it would cause me a whole lot of struggles,' she said, noting that the program covers her nebulizer and other health care needs. 'If they don't have the right documents, I won't be able to be in existence because I can't breathe.' Although Dana Bango of Zionville, North Carolina, has dealt with state social service agencies for years, she still 'sweats it every time.' There are many strict deadlines and hoops to jump through, so she has to remain vigilant, she said. The potential work mandate fills her with 'dread' since she's worried that she could fall through the cracks and lose her Medicaid coverage – even though she works 20 hours a week at the North Carolina Christmas Tree Association and delivers for Door Dash 10 hours a week. A cancer survivor who still needs follow up care, Bango is concerned that she may not get the help she could need from state workers to log her hours if the mandate takes effect. 'I've been uninsured before. I don't want to go back there. It's a scary thing,' she said.
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Griffith likes budget bill, wants 3-judge panel to oversee injunctions
bluefield – U.S. Rep. Morgan Griffith, R-Va., admits there is no such thing as a perfect bill. But he believes there is much to like in the so-called 'Big, Beautiful Bill' recently passed by the U.S. House of Representatives. Griffith, who represents Virginia's Ninth Congressional District in the House, spoke on a wide range of issues during a visit to the Daily Telegraph, including the budget bill and the growing debate over whether district court judges have the power to block much of President Donald Trump's agenda. In recent months, district court judges have issued injunctions blocking many of Trump's executive orders. Those injunctions will eventually make their way to the U.S. Supreme Court, according to Griffith. But until then Griffith said legislation already passed by the Republican-controlled House — and awaiting action in the Republican-controlled U.S. Senate — would address the issue of judicial overreach. That bill would establish a three-judge panel that would consider any nationwide injunction. 'We passed it out of the House a month and a half ago,' Griffith said of the proposed legislation. 'It's sitting in the body of the Senate. It's hard to predict what the Senate will do. They may or may not move it forward.' Using Southwest Virginia as an example, Griffith said a district court judge in the Western District of Virginia shouldn't be able to issue a nationwide injunction blocking the actions of the President of the United States. Griffith said the district court should be making local decisions that impact Bluefield, Va., Richlands and Roanoke Va. — three cities that are located in the Western District — but should not be empowered to issue a nationwide injunction blocking a presidential order. Under the proposed legislation, Griffith said a component of the U.S. Supreme Court would select three judges at random that would consider any cases involving a nationwide injunction of a presidential order. 'I think it gets you a better decision,' Griffith said of a three-judge panel. 'You should have more than one judge making that decision.' As it stands now, Griffith said those who are seeking nationwide injunctions also are seeking out district court judges that they think may be more favorable to their viewpoint. By having a component of the Supreme Court to select three judges at random, it helps to ensure there will be no inherent biases in any decisions that are rendered, according to Griffith. Griffith also talked about the federal budget bill recently passed by the U.S. House, and its chances of remaining intact in the U.S. Senate. 'The bill is not perfect,' Griffith said. 'There is things in the bill I don't like, particularly the SALT tax increase.' The debate over the SALT tax surrounds the cap on federal deductions for state and local taxes. The House passed a bill increasing the cap to $40,000. But some conservatives argue the move is essentially a federal subsidy for blue states at the expense of red states. Griffith said the citizens of Southwest Virginia don't support providing a tax break to California or New York. 'In the Senate, there are not senators who represent SALT states,' Griffith said. 'So will the Senate pull SALT out? I think they will pass something similar to what we passed, or nothing at all.' Parts of the budget bill that Griffith said he likes includes taking the tax off tips and taking the tax off hourly wage overtime. The bill also includes a provision to help with the development of coal, natural gas and nuclear facilities. Griffith described it as a 'revolving loan fund' that would provide protection to those developers if a future Democrat-led administration is elected and orders those coal, natural gas and nuclear facilities to be closed. Griffith said Democrats also continue to misrepresent the work requirement for abled-bodied adults in Medicaid and those cuts that are proposed for Medicaid over a 10-year period in the budget bill. According to Griffith, the traditional Medicaid population consists of individuals with disabilities, pregnant mothers, children and seniors. He said the work requirements in the reconciliation budget bill do not apply to this traditional Medicaid population. The work requirement in Medicaid expansion would only apply to able-bodied people aged 19-64 who do not have a young child, a disabled person or an elderly relative in need of care living in the home, according to Griffith. Griffith said the bill requires these able-bodied adults on Medicaid expansion to be engaged in their community for 80 hours a month. With 4.33 weeks in a month, that means an average of 18.47 hours a week. Griffith said those requirements promote community engagement, adding that community engagement can be community service, pursuing educational programs, participating in a rehabilitation program or a job. By working to improve their communities and their own lives, Griffith said some of these individuals will be lifted out of poverty, depression and isolation. 'But if you are able-bodied and sitting at home, you should be trying to get out there and educate yourself, help your community with community service or find a job for a small part of the week,' he said. At the end of the day, Griffith said Republicans had to compromise in order to get the 'Big, Beautiful Bill' passed. It's passage in the Republican-controlled House was by a slim margin of 215-214. Griffith also was asked about the auto-pen investigation by the House, and whether or not former President Joe Biden was fully aware of a number of pardons and executive orders that were signed by the so-called auto-pen. A number of individual who are not charged with any type of crime were pardoned by Biden anyhow in the waning days of his presidency. House Republicans are investigating a number of pardons and executive orders that were signed using the autopen. Griffith said the courts will have to take a 'serious look' at the issue, adding that the question will center around the former president's mental state when those pardons and executive orders were issued. If Biden was unable to act upon those executive orders and pardons on his on, Griffith said the responsibility of those decisions should have then fallen upon former Vice President Kamala Harris. Griffith also was asked about this November's gubernatorial election in Virginia, and a handful of polls that show Democrat Abigail Spanberger with a large lead over Republican Winsome Earle-Sears in the closely-watched governor's race. Incumbent Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin can't seek re-election. In Virginia, a candidate can only serve as governor for a single term. Griffith said the polls will tighten as it gets closer to Election Day. He said voter turnout in Southwest Virginia will be key to Republicans winning the governor's race — just as it was four years ago when voters across Southwest Virginia came out in large numbers to support Youngkin. That large voter turnout across Southwest Virginia tipped the scales in favor of Republicans, Griffith said. 'There is no question that Southwest Virginia put Youngkin over the top,' Griffith said. 'There is no question about it. It was a big turnout. We've got to have the same thing now. If the turnout happens in Southwest Virginia, Winsome Sears who I have known for 20 years can win.' Contact Charles Owens at cowens@
